In my childhood, the moment that I woke up on Easter morning I would bolt down the stairs, anxious to delve into my Easter basket and begin to find the eggs the Easter bunny had hidden around my home. As I've grown older, the excitement has worn off, and I'm more excited to sleep than to see what my Easter basket has in store for me.

Though this morning I glanced at my phone, jumped out of bed, and sped down the stairs with more excitement than I thought possible. But why?

I have my e-mail set up so that a notification sends to my phone when I recieve a new message, but I can only see who the message is from and most of the subject.

My phone read: 4 new messages when I woke up this morning. Two were from my best friends and said, "Happy Easter :)". The other two were from 700- meaning e-mail notifications. I opened them. The first:

F: Dominiqued******@hoS: FW: The S****** family in wateSent to: jordannnreplies@aim.com

At first, I thought, "What the heck? The sher-ers? I have no idea... OH MY GOD!"

I jumped out of bed- ripping the sheets off, pulled on my robe, and ran down the steps- jumping two at a time. I heard, "Happy Easter!", but I failed to return the greeting. I opened up my e-mail, and sure enough, they were e-mail messages from my host mom, Dominique.

We are pleased to welcome you in our familyin Belgium through the Rotary.We got you nice file and learned a lot aboutyou.You will find in attachment a few pictures from us, also six people, butour two older daughters are on the go:Fanny (18) will go to university andbe back on week end only and Charlotte (17) leaves for Australia.Butdon't worry there is a lot going on around us...In our newsletter youwill learn a bit about us all.Jus a few questions now:- do you like swimming?There are a few outdoor and indoor swimming pools aroundand during our summer and begin fall we love swimming.- have you ever skied?The second family, very nice people loves it and goes during theschool break...- do you have a family discount card? Here it is importantfor transports, Brussels is 20 minutes away.

Have a Happy Easter and I will write to you very soon again.Do praticeyour french because my next mail will be in ... french!Dominique S******

With this e-mail I received a biography of the family (in French) that I'm in the process of deciphering. Also, she sent pictures

of my home:

of my room:

and others of my family members. The second e-mail consisted of more photos of my family.

I replied with excitement, trying to use French as much as possible (which wasn't a lot), and I shared pictures of my friends and family with them.

My home is beautiful, my mother is kind, and I have four host sisters- two that I'll be living with and one only on weekends. What more can I ask for? Now I just have the task of learning about my family by reading the letter in French. I'm asking my French teacher for some help.